Cambodia accepts Collective Mark Registration

Reference to pulic annoucement of Ministry of Commerce on January 25, 2015, Department of Intellectual Property Rights(DIPR) starts accept the collective mark registration. 

Please see the following link for detail on the Collective Marks Application form in Cambodia. 

What is a Trademark ?

A trademark can be defined as a sign which serves to distinguish the goods and/or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises[1].

In other words, any graphically representable sign capable of distinguishing the source of a product or service may be considered as a trademark[2].

 A trademark may consist of a word, as in the vast majority of cases, a logo, a device, a slogan, a shape, etc. Under some limitations also letters, numbers, colours and sounds may be registered as trademarks; some legislations admits also the registration of smell marks and scents provided that they can be graphically represented.  Furthermore, combinations of any of the above signs may also constitute a mark.

Depending on the whether the mark refers to a product or to a service, it will be referred to as “trademark” or “service mark”. For the purpose of this paper the terms “trademark” and “mark” are used as synonymous.

Article 2 of Cambodian Law Concerning Marks, Trade Names and Acts of Unfair Competition provides for the definition of marks. "Mark" means any visible sign capable of distinguishing the goods (trademark) or services (service mark) of an enterprise. Regarding to this definition, Cambodia accepts only the mark which is visualable. There is not accept olfactory mark such as sound mark or smell mark yet.  

Trademark Registration

Trademarks registration provide their owners the exclusive right to a mark and prevent rivals from using identical or confusingly similar marks and trade names on their goods and services. Trademark Registration is a registration of your business brand or logo.

The exclusive right to a mark, as conferred by the Law, shall be acquired by registration. The trademark protection is only in specific territorial where the mark is applied, for example the mark is registered in Cambodia, it was protected only in Cambodia. Not in Thailand or Vietnam or other countries in the world. If you want to protect the mark in Cambodia, you have to register you in Kingdom of Cambodia. . 

Trademarks are registered with the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP). Cambodia uses a first-to-file system, so the use of a mark is not required when filing an application. 

A mark can be validly register if the mark can overcome the rejection in the Article 4 of the Cambodian Law Concerning Marks, Trade Names and Act of Unfair Competition which stated as following : 

a- if it is incapable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises;

b- if it is contrary to public order or morality or good custom;

c- if it is likely to mislead the public or trade circles, in particular as regards the geographical origin of the goods or services concerned or their nature or characteristics;

d- if it is identical with, or is an imitation of or contains as an element, an armorial bearing, flag and other emblem, a name or abbreviation or initials of the name of, or official sign or hallmark adopted by, any State, intergovernmental organization or organization created by an international convention, unless authorized by the competent authority of that State or organization;

e- if it is identical with, or confusingly similar to, or constitutes a translation of, a mark or trade name which is well known in the Kingdom of Cambodia for identical or similar goods or services of another enterprise;

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